


The Perks Of Being A Ghostbuster

by cloneclubbingcreampuff



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: F/F, Flirting, Found Family Feels, Humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-25
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-07-25 17:32:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7541641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloneclubbingcreampuff/pseuds/cloneclubbingcreampuff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Erin becomes aware of the dangers of her new job, all the while trying not to get distracted by Holtzmann's blatant flirting, which obviously has to be a joke.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

Erin returns from a search-and-capture mission with Abby, exhausted. The deep thrum of the speakers Holtz installed last week reverberate through the ceiling, but Abby doesn't say anything as she pulls her jumpsuit off, hanging it in her locker before letting out a deep sigh. Erin follows suit, and they stumble out the door, both too tired to go upstairs. The loud music seems to get louder when they’re outside, and Erin leans against the brick of the firehouse, her muscles screaming from the adrenaline of their recent run-in with a rather angry ghost trapped in an attic, who was definitely a screamer. Tired as she is, she doesn’t want to go home just yet, and Abby hangs back as well, buttoning her cardigan up and turning in a circle, keeping an eye out. They’re safe here, at least, Erin thinks so, but one thing ghost-busting requires is constant vigilance, and she’s glad Abby is filling that role right now because she’s not even sure if she is going to be able to drive home, she’s that pooped. She glances upwards and sees that the second floor’s lights are on.

“Does she ever sleep?” Erin muses, almost to herself, but Abby shuffles beside her and shrugs.

“I don’t know. I’ve never actually seen her do it, but--”

“It’s 2 am,” Erin gesticulates, moving her arms and craning her neck to look up once more. “We’re going to get noise complaints if she keeps this up.”

“It’s not like Kevin ever answers the phone, anyway,” Abby says. “I should probably get going. Casper’s going to wonder where I am. He always yaps at me when I get home late.”

“I still think it’s hilarious that you named your dog that,” Erin giggles, then brushes her bangs out of her face and smirks as Abby shoots her a death glare.

“Do you want a ride home or not?” She snaps, her arms folded as she takes a step towards her car.

Erin’s not sure what makes her shake her head. Maybe she just wants to prove to herself that Holtz isn’t as scary as Patty seems to think. Patty, who refuses to go up to the second floor at all unless she absolutely has to. Erin is unsure of the story behind that one; maybe Patty ate one of Holtz’s pringles or something, but Erin doesn’t think Holtz is all that scary, just a little weird in a cute, eccentric way.

Eccentric, she means. Not cute. Haha. Yeah, no.

“I’ll stay here,” she decides, ignoring the surprised look Abby gives her in favor of a huge yawn. Closing her eyes against the light pollution, she waves as Abby gets into her car, and Erin hears her mumble “Good night, weirdo,” as she sticks her keys in the ignition.

Erin watches her friend drive off, then ducks back inside, hoping she didn’t just make a huge mistake.

 

 ----

 

 Holtz is practically flying around her lab, turning in an oddly graceful pirouette as she flings a screwdriver and a box of screws and nails on the table, then bending over and going completely still for almost thirty seconds, frowning at whatever is on the worktable. Erin squints, knowing that whatever she’s witnessing right now is a genius at work, and even though it’s totally weird that Holtz works late at night to deafening music, she knows everyone has a process. When she’d been a teacher at Columbia, she liked to listen to metal music before every lecture and something calming afterwards to balance out her moods, and she supposes it’s not that different where Holtzmann is concerned, even though they are completely different people. Both nerds, but--Holtz takes her nerdiness to a whole new level. Not that Erin minds, most of the time.

“Holtz!” She tries. “HOLTZ!”

“WHAAT???”

“Don’t you think you should take a break?” she screams, then quiets when Holtz finally turns the music down so she can hear herself think. “I--it’s just that the music’s really loud and--”

She lets out a yelp as Holtz tosses something at her, and it hits her squarely in the chest before tumbling to the floor. At her feet are a pair of noise cancelling headphones, and Erin frowns. “Okay, first of all, ouch. Jesus, Holtz--you didn't have to throw them at me. How'd you knew I was here?”

“I heard the door,” Holtz replies, pulls her goggles off, and Erin wonders how on earth she could have when the music is so damn loud. “Sleep tight, stalker.”

“I’m--not a stalker,” Erin stutters. She feels her cheeks flush as the silence stretches between them, Holtzmann’s smirk affecting her more than she will ever admit to another soul, living or dead. In her line of work, it’s best to clarify that, she supposes. Without waiting for Holtz to respond, she stomps back downstairs and tries to get some sleep.

But even after she puts the headphones on, she doesn’t drift off for at least another hour, because a swirling sense of panic rises in her abdomen the moment she closes her eyes. This is dumb, she thinks. She doesn’t--she can’t--it’s just so _dumb _.__

__

  _ _\----_ _

__

Erin finds herself in the same situation almost three weeks later, despite all of her efforts to stay the hell away from Holtz and her smile and her dancing and her cocky, almost sexual swagger. It’s hard, because they’re a team and they have to work together and it’s going to get weird if Erin keeps doing this. Patty and Abby are going to notice and it’s going to throw everything off balance and thanks to how oblivious Holtzmann is, Erin's pathetic crush is probably never going to go anywhere, so it doesn’t matter. She should just go back to checking Kevin out and ignoring the fact that literally every syllable that falls out of Holtz’s mouth fascinates her. She has a nice mouth, but that is so not the point. God. She can’t remember having it this bad for someone before. Pondering all the ways her infatuation could go wrong kind of ruins it, anyway. But...only kind of.

This totally isn’t what Erin's thinking about as she gets back from an ice cream run with Patty to find Holtz dancing to a familiar song that Erin loved in high school, one she and Abby danced to at their senior prom. Neither of them had had dates, but it ended up being a really fun night, and Erin feels nostalgic enthusiasm course through her as she runs up the stairs, Patty reluctantly following her.

Holtz is as mesmerizing as ever, bobbing her head to the beat as she throws a jelly bean into the air and catches it in her mouth. She twirls, her light green duster flapping around her knees, and Erin walks over with what she’s sure is a huge grin. Patty starts dancing too, steering clear of Holtz in case she gets the urge to dance with blowtorches again, but Erin finds that she can’t stay away. She sets the ice cream on the corner of the worktable and starts to dance, shaking her hips as the speakers blare:

_We can dance if we want to, we can leave your friends behind,_

_‘Cause your friends don’t dance and if they don’t dance then they’re no friends of mine._

And then she sees Abby come up the stairs. She rushes towards Erin, no doubt remembering the night of their senior prom. They both scream like teenagers and then the four of them dance together, each of their styles wildly different, but it’s so nice and it fills Erin with a warm, invincible feeling. This is what family is, she realizes, and if she happens to laugh out loud when Holtz attempts to do the sprinkler dance move while holding two blowtorches and consequently almost burns Patty’s hair to a crisp, well, at least now things don’t feel so weird. They’re so into dancing that they don’t hear Kevin until he’s standing near them, talking about a caller who reported a ghost sighting in midtown. Holtz turns off the music and they all go downstairs to suit up.


	2. Chapter 2

Creaky floorboards greet the Ghostbusters as they step into the backroom of the decrepit computer store they’ve been summoned to, armed and ready. Erin’s proton pack isn’t as heavy as she remembers, maybe because she’s gotten used to it. She has abs now, and a little bit more muscle in her quads and forearms. And, of course, that’s not the only thing that has changed in a few short months. Erin still misses teaching sometimes, but if she’s being honest, she always liked the bragging rights that came with the job at Columbia University more than the job itself.

“I’ve definitely got something, ladies,” Abby says, leading them deeper into the gloomy, creepy store. Of course the lights don’t work, and of course it happened to start raining and thundering when they finally managed to all file into the hearse. The guy who called them refuses to go back inside, and the only one who doesn’t look even a little freaked out is Holtz. Naturally.

Anyway, Abby’s PKE meter is spinning around, and Erin crouches instinctively behind Patty, hoping not to get slimed.

“Hey, girl, don’t use me as a human shield,” Patty complains, turning and nudging her to her left. She almost collides into Holtz, who steadies her with one hand, then steps in front of her, grabbing a pringle from the can in her left pocket.

Erin blinks, then follows, sticking closer than is strictly necessary, but whatever. She _really_ doesn’t want to get covered in green ooze, that’s all. This isn’t Nickelodeon.

The ghost appears, a skinny Harry Potter look alike in a red polo shirt with khakis; someone who worked at the store, maybe? And it’s clear when he screams and rushes towards them that he’s definitely not benign. They all shoot at him, but the ghost dodges the first blast and flies around the room, making Erin’s hair whip around her face. He goes faster and faster, until Erin feels fuzzy, dizzy. They keep firing, probably racking up a heck of a lot of property damage, when the ghost suddenly stops in front of Erin, his jaw unhinging. The angry gleam in his eye only fuels her fear.

And just when Erin thinks she’s going to get horribly reacquainted with ghost slime, Holtzmann pulls out her two pistols and, in a running circle, aims them at both of the ghost’s legs, using the force to pull him back, away from Erin. He crashes into the wall behind Holtz, who turns a second too late. She’s thrown forward, slamming into a bunch of boxes. Patty yells in concern, pulls out her ghost chipper, and a few seconds later, it’s over. Erin, Patty and Abby rush over to Holtz, who is lying flat on her back.

“Holtzy? You okay?” Patty asks softly, bending down on one knee. “Say something, baby, please.”

“I'm not dead. I’m not dead. I’m totally ship shape,” Holtz responds, sitting up mechanically. Her goggles are askew, and she looks kind of dazed, but Erin’s pretty sure that’s how she looks normally, so she doesn’t say anything. She and Abby help Holtz to her feet, and Erin holds on just a second longer than Abby does, if only to reassure herself that her friend is okay. The feeling of Holtz’s arm around her shoulder isn’t too terrible, either.

__

__\----_ _

__

When they get back to the firehouse, the ice cream is all melted, because of course Kevin didn’t think to put it in the freezer. Erin sighs and brings the ice cream downstairs to buy herself some time away from everyone. It’s finally sinking in just how dangerous this job is. Wouldn’t someone with military training or, you know, basic fighting skills be better suited for this? Sometimes being Batman just isn’t realistic or practical. Someone is going to get seriously hurt sooner or later, and as much as Erin wants to focus on the family she’s found here, on late nights binge-watching Game of Thrones and dance parties and being reunited with her best friend from high school, she also has a dreadful ache in her chest, because she wasn’t fast enough tonight, and what if she never is? What if next time, it’s a whole lot worse?

She goes up to the roof for a little while, and is thinking about just heading home when Holtzmann appears in the doorway, her hair mussed and her leather jacket hanging open. It's so stupid, how Erin's breath catches at the sight of her.

And then Holtz is standing next to her. "Hey, stalker. How's it hanging?"

"I keep telling you, I'm not a stalker," Erin shoots back, but a smile tugs at the corners of her mouth and she's sure Holtz sees it before Erin turns her head away, gazing out over the buildings and the lights spelling out their praises. That just pulls at Erin's heartstrings even more, because this is...should be perfect. She's looking out over an extremely romantic view with her crush, and it would be, could be so wonderful, if she wasn't mulling over the fact that, oh yeah, Holtz could have died tonight.

"Fine. Just saying, you've been acting a lot like a girlfriend-stalker mix. Not to worry, though, you wouldn't be my first."

"Girlfriend or stalker?" Erin can't help but ask. Holtz probably isn't being serious anyway, and dealing in hypotheticals is something Erin figures is harmless at this point.

"Both," Holtz replies casually, and Erin isn't jealous at all, nope. "Anyway, good to see you're not ready to take a dive off the roof."

"Please," Erin scoffs. "I'm freaked out, not suicidal."

Holtz sidles closer. She smells nice, a mix of soap and metal and sweat (and burnt hair???) that really shouldn't be having this affect on her, but Erin breathes in deeply and for a moment, she's calmer.

Then Holtz holds her arms out, spinning in a circle. "I'm fine," she insists. "I knew this job would be dangerous, that's kinda why I signed onto it, cupcake. So stop worrying."

"Because dangerous equals fun?"

"You don't think so?" Holtz turns on her, raising an eyebrow and smirking, and the combination is so charming that Erin almost leans closer, but reminds herself that she's supposed to be mad at this idiot. She wonders, for a moment, if Holtz knows. If she's aware how much Erin wants to kiss her, not just now, but most of the time, and that's how she knows she can get away with acting so blasé about literally everything. "Huh. Guess I hallucinated that time you complained about being a professional ass-kisser at your boring ass university, teaching boring, pretentious college kids."

"I never said that. Columbia University is an extremely prestigious institution," Erin protests, hands clenched, and she's not sure what she wants to do with the smug look on her friend's face. Now is not the time for _Kiss With A Fist_ to start playing on repeat in her head. "I was this close to tenure--"

"Not what I asked. But fine, spaz. One thing we agree on is, there's always room for improvement. I could use a lab buddy tonight, if you're not doing anything," Holtz says, and the lights of the city shine off of her smile as she scoots just a little further into Erin's personal space.

The intent is pretty clear, right? Is Erin's first thought, and her second is, wait, what? Did Holtz plan this? WTF?

So naturally, she says yes. Because if spending some time with this weirdo she's totally infatuated with is the end result of this whole thing, then why on earth would Erin turn that down?

 

\----

 

Abby is still downstairs when Erin slides down the pole and helps herself to some ice cream, feeling considerably better than before. She's sure Abby notices the change in her mood, and when she's about to close up, she looks expectantly at Erin.

"Looks like Holtz is gonna pull another all nighter," Abby observes as 80s music drifts from upstairs.

"I know. I'm going to stay and help her out."

Abby raises an eyebrow as she fiddles with her purse and glasses. "You're a particle physicist. Why would you--oh. I get it."

Erin's stomach sinks, and she blurts: "I don't know what you're talking about."

"No, no. You can't fool me. You're staying to make sure she doesn't burn the building down. Probably a good idea. I'm glad I don't have to be the only mom friend," Abby says absently, fiddling with her keys.

Erin can't contains her sigh of relief, and disguises it as a laugh. "Yeah, yeah, that's totally it," she says. "So, don't let me keep you here. Tell Casper hi from me. I'll see you tomorrow."

She doesn't mean to push her best friend out the door, but her skin is prickling in anticipation and her heart is racing. It's an absolute miracle that Abby doesn't pick up on that when it took her one second to see how Erin was sweating when she'd first laid eyes on Kevin. Maybe Abby is more rattled than she lets on.

Regardless, Erin knows it's only a matter of time before everyone figures it out. So until then, she should figure out what Holtz wants, and if she's seriously flirting with her or she's just messing around. Talk about mission impossible.


	3. Chapter 3

So. No buffers. No witty one liners from Patty or sound advice from Abby, distracting Erin from the (ridiculous, juvenile, insert-four-syllable-adjective-here-that-describes-how-fucking-stupid-this-is) thumpity thump of her heartbeat as she walks up the stairs and into Holtz's lab. She could still back out of this, she knows, but the thought of how Holtz would tease her, or even worse, be actually hurt, steels Erin's resolve. She grips the swiss army knife in her pocket, hoping it will give her something. Courage, maybe. Strength. 

There's something reassuring about the fact that Holtzmann thought of her enough to give her a means to defend herself. That has to mean something, right? Or maybe it doesn't. Erin has no clue how to read someone like Holtz, probably because there just isn't any experience she can draw from or use as a frame of reference since embracing the weird and becoming it are two different things. Erin's fully aware that she's over-analyzing this way too much, focusing on every angle, each way this could possibly go wrong before it's even began. 

Abby was right about one thing: Erin doesn't know the first thing about engineering, and she doesn't think that escaped Holtzmann's notice. So obviously, she asked Erin here for other reasons.

Erin has always liked the cusp, the verge of discovery, but this is just nerve-wracking. 

The lab is pretty big; Erin is still proud of herself for striking a deal with the mayor so they could afford this place. She walks deeper into the room, her ears accustomed to Holtz's favorite 80's music playlist by now. Holtzmann is working on the ghost transporter she built a few months ago; Erin doesn't know the scientific name for it, or if the brilliant engineer standing before her has been able to determine the location that the ghosts are taken to. She's definitely curious, and without really thinking about it, she strolls over to reach out a hand towards the machine.

"Don't touch that," Holtz says, slowly closing a hand over her forearm. She's calm, and her movements are steady but careful, which kind of freaks Erin out even more. 

Abby's words from before echo in her mind, and she's going to be super pissed if Holtz ends up blowing them sky high because of her unpredictable inventions.

Holtz continues: "Unless you'd get a kick out of being transported to Michigan or wherever."

"Oh," Erin murmurs. "Okay, yes, I think I'd rather stay here."

That's when she realizes that Holtz's hand is still on her arm, guiding her closer. She's pretty smooth for someone who spends 99% of her time tinkering with machinery in a lab by herself. 

"I'm flattered. So yeah, list of things you probably shouldn't touch or breathe on: um...pretty much all the stuff on the workbench and all the machinery here. Dr. Gorin's been helping me with the stability factor so I think you'll be fine if you're here for longer than an hour, and I've sneezed a few times and nothing has happened with the fissile plutonium, so..."

Erin tries her best not to pout, focusing less than she probably should on the uncertainty in Holtz's voice about the overall safety of the lab. "What? Why did you ask me here if I can't touch anything? I'm just going to be in your way."

The smirk she gets in response is downright wolfish. "I didn't say you couldn't touch _anything." ___

Erin blinks. She wants to clear her throat and step back to maintain some distance, but it's way too late for that. And oh lord, the hand on her arm is moving up, up to her shoulder. Ohh god. Erin's sure she couldn't move even if she wanted to.

Her own hands start moving when Holtz turns to face her fully, coming up to grip the engineer's elbows. She wants to take control, pull Holtz close, kiss her lips until they're chapped. She wants to ask her if she means all the things she says, so she can know without a doubt that Holtzmann wants her. It should be enough to see that for once, all of Holtz's attention is focused in one direction. Completely and totally on her, and Erin doesn't have a word for that feeling. The air is charged with something new and exhilarating, and Erin is so ready to take lean that last bit forward, but something stops her. 

"Do you mean that?" Erin is breathless. Hopeful, and also disbelieving. 

Holtz nods. "I've kind of been flirting with you since we first met."

"I thought you were joking," Erin admits. "Like, just messing around because I was kind of uptight--I mean, I know I'm still pretty uptight--and you wanted to see me get flustered or something. I don't know."

"Normally I'm all for analyzing stuff," Holtz says softly, running her fingers along Erin's shoulder. "But maybe in this situation, you're thinking just a little too much." 

Holtz waits for Erin to lean forward. Their foreheads touch before their lips meet, and it's definitely something worth staying up late for. 

 

\----

 

Patty finds them in the lab around noon. Holtz is snoring softly in the corner, cuddling the piece of machinery she'd been working on until she passed out, and Erin kind of has to do a double take to make sure she's actually sleeping. It's clear Patty feels the same way when her eyebrows raise and she makes an offhand comment about Erin wearing her out, which in turn makes the former teacher blush. 

"I should get a picture of this," Patty says, taking out her phone. "Aw. She looks so peaceful."

Erin giggles as Patty takes a picture, and there's silence for a few moments, only the sound of Holtzmann's snores accompanying them as Erin resolves to ignore the elephant in the room. She's gotten pretty good at doing that over the years, but that's just not Patty's style, as evidenced by her next question:

"So, I guess having the place to yourselves was nice, yeah? Abby told me you practically threw her out of here." 

Erin frowns. "I thought I was being subtle."

Patty's resounding laugh wakes Holtz up. She comes over and smiles at them in a cute, sleepy way. 

"Hey Patty. Good to see you got brave enough to come up to the second floor. I thought I'd have to bribe you with pringles," Holtz comments as Patty slings an arm around Holtz's shoulder. 

"I couldn't stay away," Patty confesses, then glances at Erin. "And it looks like I'm not the only one."

 

\----

 

"Erin, focus," Abby tells her, pulling her across the alleyway. "If we want to debunk these Ghost Jumper amateurs, then we're going to have to pull together, and be quiet, like a bunch of ninja cats, okay?"

"They're going to see us," Erin says matter-of-factly. "Not that this wasn't a great idea, but I just don't know if this is the best way. I mean, they already have a video camera. We're going to get caught and then we'll all just look stupid."

"You're missing the point," Abby shoots back. "I know we don't have much of a public face, thanks to the mayor, but people still know who we are. We're in the phone book as a legitimate business. And these guys--" Abby jabs her thumb in the direction of the black-clad group they're following-- "are the whole damn reason no one takes us seriously."

Usually, when she and Abby get into discussions like this (an outside observer might call them 'arguments') there's not much that can distract Erin. Not even the overpowering stench of garbage and urine or the fear that they could get mugged is enough to pull Erin's attention away from trying to get Abby to see her side of things. But when Holtzmann puts a hand on her waist, and shuffles a little too close to be strictly professional, well. That completely derails Erin's train of thought. 

She hears Patty chuckle, and shoots her a glare, but she's sure the effect is kind of lost in the darkness.

"Okay, fine. But let the record show that I think this is such a waste of--" 

A scream from ahead of them interrupts her, and then the Ghost Jumpers are scrambling towards them, terrified. One of them drops their video camera, and Erin's blood runs cold as she sees a ghost burst out of the dumpster. Class 4 vapor, for sure. 

The four of them draw their wands in synchrony, and Erin hears the Ghost Jumpers behind them, oohing and aahing like this is some kind of show. Like they wouldn't be dead if it wasn't for them.

But whatever. Erin's not bitter. If a proton blast happens to accidentally hit the dumpster they're hiding behind, well, it's not like she has night vision. 

Abby slams the ghost up against the side of the building, but that doesn't slow it down. And then more ghosts fly out of the dumpster, like it's Pandora's Box. Erin rolls her eyes and ducks as one of the ghosts--a green slimy one not unlike the one that stole their car--ambles towards her. The gun Holtzmann made for her takes care of it, and with a few more blasts, the alleyway is silent once more. 

Abby turns to the Ghost Jumpers, who look stunned. "Yeah, we just saved your lives," she tells them, and Erin can tell she's gloating. "Maybe you can talk about that on your stupid show."

**Author's Note:**

> I just can't with this movie and these characters and everything. I've been having a shitty time because this year has been kind of shitty but t h i s m o v i e is just so good and it's made my life a little brighter. Thanks so much for reading, let me know what you think!!!


End file.
